Jun 04,2008 00:00 by
UPI COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- A bomb exploded Wednesday along a railway track in Sri Lanka, causing minor injuries to 17 people in a train as it passed.

The incident occurred in a suburb of the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, the LankaPage reported.

Police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekera said a man tried to throw a parcel at a commuter train traveling from Panadura toward Colombo but was deterred by people in the area who began screaming, the report said.

"After noticing that the people had seen him, the suspect had thrown the parcel towards the railway track and run away from the scene," the spokesman said.

Violence has escalated in the Indian Ocean island nation in recent months with the military conducting a relentless campaign against the Tamil Tiger rebels. The rebels want a separate homeland for the Tamil-speaking minority in the predominantly Buddhist country.